Misguided Matchmaking
by Duchess67
Summary: Thor was only trying to help his little Lightning Sister with her obvious crush.


Disclaimer I do not own Marvel movies or comics and this is just for fun.

Darcy Lewis had been working at the Avengers HQ in upstate New York for close to a year and she was really grateful to Thor for recommending her.

She'd started out at as the most junior member of the Avengers PR team, but was slowly working her way up in rank which was why she was in upstate New York nearly a year before the Avengers themselves moved to the facility. She was determined to be in charge of their PR before she'd been there five years and for that advancement to be because she'd merited it, not because of who she was friends with or any other connection because she had her pride.

And that was why she had to discourage her huge friend/brother from the habit of, whenever he visited the facility, making a point of finding her and giving her a huge hug, regardless of where she was at the time.

When she confronted him and explained, Thor understood her pride and vowed not to get in the way of his little Lightning Sister's career, even though it went against his grain not to try and help. He looked down, "I promise that I will wait until you are alone before giving in to my inclination to hug you until you squeak." He looked up at her and grinned mischievously from ear to ear.

Darcy squawked, "I knew it! I knew you thought it was funny when you made me squeak. You are such a huge _troll!"_

He pretended to be afraid of her ire and ran from her. She yelled inarticulately and chased him and both ended up eventually falling onto the couch, laughing.

Days later, Thor had been noticing how young Darcy looked at the Captain with a wistful longing and decided that _that_ at least, was a situation he could do something about. He went to his friend, Tony to ask about catering a dinner for four. His Lady Jane was beautiful and intelligent, but was far too busy to be asked to cook a suitably adequate meal for appetites such as his own and Rogers combined, that wouldn't be fair. Nor healthy, if he was pressed to admit it, for his Jane simply could not cook.

Tony had been very helpful, grinning like a Cheshire cat when he realized Thor was trying to play matchmaker for his girlfriend's assistant and Cap. He'd begged to be told the details of how it all went, after the fact. Thor didn't say he'd do that, but thanked Tony for his help with the food.

As the dinner progressed to desert, it became very obvious what Thor was trying to do and Darcy was mortified. She looked up and demanded that Friday give them privacy mode, along with a threat upon Tony's life if he tried to override it in any way, knowing this would keep Friday from letting Tony eavesdrop.

"Privacy mode engaged, Miss Lewis."

Steve pushed back from the table, "I can leave, if you need me to."

Darcy turned to him and shook her head, "No, you actually need to stay. I should have talked to you about this months ago, my problem was," she looked apologetically at Thor, "I wanted to tell you guys, too and just hadn't gotten up the nerve. The two of you are my family, though, so you kinda ought to know this about me. Just in case."

She took a deep breath and said, "Thor, my Dude! I love you like a brother, but you can't keep a secret to save your life and that's a good thing, most of the time. This secret, however, is one that you and Jane, my sister from another mother, absolutely can NOT share!

Thor nodded solemnly, determined to give his normally jovial sister no reason to doubt him.

Jane quickly agreed, "We won't tell anyone, Darcy, promise!"

Turning back to Steve, she told him, "This might come as a bit of a surprise, but…" she slapped a hand up to her forehead and asked rhetorically, "How the hell do I even SAY this?"

Nice guy that he was, Steve told her, "Just say what you need to say, Miss Lewis."

She wrung her hands and blurted out, "I'm so glad that I finally got to meet you in person because I've known for the last eight years that you're my great grandfather. Surprise, it was a girl!"

Steve's jaw dropped, "What?"

Darcy looked down at her hands as she spoke, "Remember when Teresa Bennett dropped out of the American USO tour you were on, before it went to Europe?"

Steve gaped like a fish, "She got appendicitis and had to have an operation, couldn't dance for a while."

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief that he at least remembered her great grandmother. She continued, "Yeah, that was a lie. She realized she was pregnant and knew that you really wanted to get overseas to help in the war, so she didn't tell you."

He looked hurt, so she hurried on to say, "She was going to tell you as soon as you came back from Europe, introduce you to your little girl, Jane, but then your plane went down. Grammy Jane kept all of this to herself until eight years ago when she told Mom and me, just before cancer took her from us. Then Mom was killed in a car wreck less than a week before it was announced you'd been found and defrosted."

Steve swallowed audibly, not paying attention to Thor and Jane who had gotten up and left the room to give them privacy. He asked, "What was your mother's name?"

"Elizabeth," she said the name quietly.

Steve laughed a little, "One of the things Teresa had in common with my Ma, they both loved 'Pride and Prejudice.'" He looked at her with a smile, "And they named you Darcy. I love it, it suits you."

She smiled and it lit up her face like Christmas as she said, "Sarah Darcy Maria Lewis." At his wistful look, Darcy told him, "The first name I'm sure you recognize and yes, that's after your mother."

Fighting back deep emotion, he asked, "And the Maria?"

She chuckled, "Mom was also a fan of West Side Story." Then she looked down and up again before she asked, "Do you think it would be too weird if I asked you for a hug?"

He smiled, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

He'd barely gotten the words out before he stood up to catch her in his arms as she practically flew into them and they hugged each other tight.

Steve looked like he was fighting even harder not to cry and told her with a broken voice, "Oh how I wish I'd gotten to know your grandmother and your ma, but I'm real glad I've got you, Baby Girl."

Darcy nearly sobbed at the new nickname he'd given her, said with so much affection it was palpable.

"If I wasn't afraid it would put a bullseye on your back, even more than you already have, I'd shout it from the rooftops, Darcy. But your family's instincts have been right on the money all these years in keeping it to yourselves. When I stop to think about what Hydra would have done with this information, what they might have done to _you,_ it's gonna give me nightmares!" He hugged her tight again and she hugged him right back.

The four of them keep this secret between them, knowing that it could be used against the Avengers as a whole and Steve in particular.

Tony was disappointed the matchmaking hadn't gone to plan and the two looked like they were settling on being just friends. He tried to rib the Captain about it some, snarkily, "What's the matter Cap, don't you appreciate all those curves? I thought you were into that type or are you more into women with a little less weight on them nowadays?"

Steve growled and walked out of the room, hands fisted so tight his knuckles popped.

It startled Tony when Thor intervened, "Stark you are a fine warrior and a good friend, but if you are not careful of what you say about the Lady Darcy, I will be forced to acquaint you with Mjolnir in a far more intimate manner than you would like."

Then Jane startled him even more when she warned him, "If I hear you talking disrespectfully about my friend in any way again, I'll just have to borrow Darcy's taser and fry your ass, funding or not!"

When Tony started to complain that he got no respect, Natasha snarked at him, "Shall I ask Pepper her opinion of this entire conversation, give her a word for word recounting of the whole thing?"

Sitting up straight, Stark snapped out, "Shutting up now!"

Darcy eventually managed to track down and put together a staggeringly large number of pictures of the Howling Commandos as taken just before, during and right after the war. Telling the descendants of those soldiers who she was doing this for made them quite eager to share and she gathered them all together into a large, fire proof box.

When she'd given them to him after his morning run on his birthday, he'd sat down with her at his dining room table and gone through them. Together they'd sorted them into relevant time frames, as best he knew and as indicated by the dates stamped on the pictures.

As they were putting them all away, Steve was lingering on one of Bucky and himself where they were arm in arm and laughing about something.

Darcy leaned down behind him and put her chin on his shoulder as she said dreamily, "God, he was and still is the best looking man on the face of the Earth, even with his murder hobo look!"

Steve chuckled and said, "A lotta women back then felt that way, too."

She giggled, "A lot do now, too. Wanna see the websites devoted to his new look?"

Her grandfather actually shuddered and waved his hands in protest as he stood to his feet, "No, no, no, don't tell me stuff like that and _never_ show me!"

She cackled a little and play punched him until he pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and sighed, "Do you think he would have thought I was pretty, back then, before the war?"

Steve sighed at her obvious crush, "Baby Girl, I'm not sure if even Bucky could have handled you and he was quite the ladies man. I think you'd have either scared him into running the other way or he'd have used what brains he had to sweep you off your feet and married you before you could wise up and say no."

Her head popped up, chin propped on his chest as she looked up at him with a huge smile on her face, "You really think so?"

He smiled dotingly down at her, "With all my heart."


End file.
